Wayne Richie

Chairman

Audio International Inc.

Little Rock

Wayne Richie

Flying into Little Rock while still in the Air Force, Wayne Richie, now 35, made his home here and is stilt flying high, now piloting Audio International Inc., a manufacturer of electronic components for aircraft.

Richie cofounded the company in 1986 and has tried to model his life and his company after Herb Kellerher, who started Southwest Airlines and has run it so successfully.

"Southwest Airlines is very employee-oriented," Richie says. "I believe in enjoying what I'm doing in making work fun." But he's very .serious about his work, he adds.

Richie credits his firm's success to his philosophy of putting trust and honesty above all others rhinos. "Be honest with your employers to gain their trust and everything else comes easy," he says.

Audio International has its roots in Richie's designing and building stereo systems for his personal vehicle as a hobby. Today, the company is known for nor only its high-quality sound systems but a wide range of cabin control and entertainment products ranging from speaker enclosures, LCD monitors, amplifiers and equalizers to passenger switch panels, environmental controls and headphone systems. Manufacturers from LearJet, Gulfstream and Cessna to Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas use the systems, built by Audio International.

He is a member of the National Right to Work Committee, the Arkansas Executive Committee and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. A member of the british Motoring Club of Arkansas, one of his loves' is his restored '76 Triumph TR-6.